Fluid-recorder.



E. S. COLE. FLUID RECORDER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1907.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

fluid, all of which ored fluid and its meniscus were photo- EDWARD S.COLE, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

' FLUID-RECORDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented m, 17, 1908.

Application filed May 2, 1907. Serial No. 371,414.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARDIS. Conn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Montclair, New Jersey, haveinvented new and usefulImprovements in F luid-Recorders, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to those self-recording manometers used generallyin connection with a pitometer for measuring the velocity of a flowingstream of water, principally in water mains, and it consists in themethod of and apparatus for simultaneously recording the fluctuations ofsuperposed images or the menisci inv both legs or .ducts of the tube inwhich'the indicating fluid is placed, thereby obviating the necessity offirst finding a zero or starting point, and at the same time recording afull-deflection in-v stead ofahalf-deflection of the indicating ill bemore fully described hereinafter a d pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure. 1,

, represents a front elevation of a manometer mounted on a portablephoto-recording cabinet. Fig. 2, a top view, partly in section, of mydevice, and Fig. 3, a side elevation thereof, the casing being removedto show the mechanism within, v

Heretofore, to obtain a photographic rec- 0rd in self-recording'manometers, the colgraphed 'in\ one leg only, thereby making itnecessary for the operator to first adjust the U-t-ube until the zero orstarting point of the indicating liquid was found, before the automaticmachinery could be set in motion. Owing to the difficult conditions,such as darknessnnd cramped quarters, under which anoperator has towork, much valuable time was consumed, and such initial adjustment wasliable to be inaccurate, small errors made atthe starting point beingdoubled in the result. r

A further difiiculty in the former mode, in which only a half-deflectionwas recorded, was that the low deflections resultingzfronf a verysluggish flow in the water main, were made hard to compute, thedifficulties increasing in the ratio of the nearness of the meniscusline to the zero line.- In my de vice both of the abovementioneddifliculties are overcome by the method and apparatus now to bedescribed.

In carrying out my invention I employ a photo-recorder, comprising aportable cabi net having two sections, a, and b, hinged together. Thesection a, is a light-proof inclosure containing a drum 0, adapted tocarry a sheet of sensitized paper Z, and rotated by clockwork (Z. AU-tube or manometer e, is set in a vertical recess 6 in the side ofinclosure a, and before a vertical slot or exposure opening g, in aplate g. The two legs of the U-tube come closely together so that bothlegs and their contents will intercept and reduce the power of the lightpassing through the exposure slot g. A lamp is,

projects its light upon the sheet of sensitized paper Z, around the c.In order to concentrate and converge the light at the pointwhere theexposure slot is located, two

vertical prisms p, placed base to base, are

disposed before the manometer or U-tube 6. These prisms are supported inadjustable brackets g, by means of whichthe prisms can be moved towardand from each other for focusing purposes. The upper portion or" thetube contains the water w, coming from a main through a pitoineter 1*,and the lower portion contains an indicating liquid a, composed ofcolored tetrachlorid and gasolene. This liquid is preferably red incolor; also heavier than water and will not mix with the water bearingdown upon it, nor stick to the tube, but will allow part of the lightfrom the lamp to pass through the body of it. The menisci or images m,m,

are opaque and represent the dividing lines or terminals of theindicating liquid lying between the water and the 'tetrachlorid. zlVhile the water to be measured is flowing 1 through "the water-main f,it acts on the photometer tubes f and f and disturbs the equilibrium ofthe tetrachlorid 'u in the bottom'of the tube, raising it in one leg andlowering it in the other. A rapid flow of water will cause a morepronounced deflection and spread the superposed images farther apart. Asluggish current will have a contrary efi'ect, bringing the imagescloser together, lVhen there is no current in the water-main ff, anequilibrium will be 'estalolished, and theimages will settle down to thesame level, recording a horizontal line on the sheet. The rubber hosepipes n, convey 1 the water from the pitometer r acted upon by the flowof the water to be measured. The

pitometer r needs no detailed description to be readily understood bythose skilled in the art, although it'm ight be well here to 7 statethat when the water in. the water-main f is flowing, there will beimpact upon the ,up-stream tube 7", and suction upon the downstream tubef, whereby the tetrachlorid in the right-hand leg of the iii-tube willbe lowered and that in the left-hand leg will be raised, in whichrelatively raised and lowered positions the menisci 'or images are shownin Figs. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description it will be .seen that when the light fromthe lamp strikes the prisms it will be retracted and converged'upon thetwo legs of the U-tube in such a manner as to record on the sensiitizedpaper three shades of color as follows:

first, the water which, being transparent, allows the greatest exposureand leaves a black zone m, at the top; second, the light which passingthrough a single column of translucent red fluid leaves a gray zone 3and third, the light which assing through two columns of red fluid, beng still further obscured, leavesv an almost white zone 2. The opaquemenisci or images m, m, will leave two white lines 8, s, which form thetop andbottom-boundaries of the middle zone y,

thereby recording two half-deflections, one

aboveand one below the zero line 0. These two half-deflectionsconstitutes a full-deflection of the indicating fluid. This allowscomputations to be made from measurements taken of the distance lyingbetween the two menisci lines, and hence with greater accuracy and ease,and avoiding the necessity of first finding the zero or starting pointas be fore mentioned. It is possible to use tetrachlorid without color,in which case the meniscus or image thereof would still record a whiteline. It is apparent that two lamps, t, t, in place of'theprisms and onelamp might be substituted for the purpose ofconverging the light uponthe exposure I slot.

Such a modification is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. a

Having thus describedmy invention" what I claim as new, is:

1. The hereindescribed method of indicating the velocity of running.fluids, which method consists of'recording the fluctuations of theterminals of two columns of an indicating'fluid having diflerentspecific gravity eoasio movable objects in bothcolumns of saidindicating fluid, substantially as described.

3. The hereindescribed method of indicating the velocity of runningfluids, the same consisting in causing two columns of the fluid to berespectively acted upon simultaneously by the impact and suction of thestream, and simultaneously recording the relative positions of twoseparated objects carried by an indicating fluid of different specificgravity afiected by the action of therunning fluid through the medium ofsaid columns, substantially as described.

i. In a manometerrecording apparatus, a U-tube containing an indicatingfluid affected by the velocity of the water to be recorded, incombination with a light, and a traveling sheet of sensitized paperlocated within an inclosure having an exposure opening, both legs ofsaid tube being interposed between said light and exposu re opening,tointercept the light and photograph on the paper a full deflection ofthe liquid in the tube, substantially as described.

'5: In a recording manometer, a U-tube containing a colored indicatingfluid, in combination with devices which simultaneously record thefluctuations of the menisci in both legs of the tube, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a self-recording manometer, the combination with a photographicapparatus wherein a traveling sheet of sensitized paper is locatedwithin an inclosure having an exposure opening, of a U-tube containingan indicating fluid, and being located before the exposure. opening, apair of prisms, and

means for projecting light simultaneously through said prisms and bothlegs of the tubes whereby both .menisci; are photographed, substantiallyasdescribed.

7 In a recording manometer, a tube containing anindicating fluid, incombination with devices which simultaneously record the fluctuations ofthe menisci in "both legs of the tube, substantially as described.

8. In a self-recording manometer, and in combination with a lamp andU-tube, a pair of deflecting prisms interposed between the lamp andtube, as and for the purposes set forth. a

9'. in a fluid recording apparatus, ajselfrecording manometer incombination with a lamp and a pair of prisms interposed between the lampand manometer as described.

p In testimony whereof, I EDWARD 'S. COLE have signed my name to thisspecification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses,

this 29th day of April 1907.

EDWARD S. COLE.

Witnesses:

Faro B. Nnrso'n, FRED. A. Morr s.

